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Pollution Tax Association

05dec06a: A charitable donation with carbon offsetting

After some years of inactivity, apart from regular payments from members, the Pollution Tax Association is planning to make some donations. The first donation will take place in January to a charity that has links with developing countries, particulary in Africa. In order to offset the effects of the charity's air travel the PTA is buying 10 tonnes of fuel wood.

We are also planning a campaign to promote the use of locally grown wood as a heat source in public buildings. Wood fuel can actually be better than carbon neutral - it can be a carbon negative source of fuel because the roots keep growing when the wood is cropped. We are also making a small donation to the Fishergate Environmental Panel (see Green Ration Book to investigate further environmental opportunities in conjunction with biomass heating such as combined heat and power and small scale carbon capture.






01mar00a: Pollution Tax Association: Press release on Mozambique

PRESS RELEASE 1/03/00

FOR IMMEDIATE USE

POLLUTION TAX ASSOCIATION

£750 DONATED TO MOZAMBIQUE BY POLLUTION TAX ASSOCIATION

The York Branch of the Pollution Tax Association today donated £750 to the Oxfam Mozambique Appeal Fund.

"The human and environmental catastrophe in Mozambique is a result of climate change caused by pollution" said Chris Teesdale, Chair of the Pollution Tax Association. "We in the west need to give careful thought as to how we can reduce environmental pollution. Local actions, such as using your car when you don't need to, have global consequences".

The Pollution Tax Association collects a voluntary pollution tax from its members. The money collected is donated to charities involved in combating the effects of climate change in the third world. It is campaigning for compulsory pollution taxes world-wide, starting with a carbon tax in this country.

ENDS

Contacts:

Geoff Beacon
Pollution Tax Association
36 Belle Vue Street
York

e: info@pollutiontaxassociation.org.uk





20apr97: Pollution Tax Association: 20th April 1997. A Donation to Oxfam

£950 Donated To Oxfam By the Pollution Tax Association





13may94: Pollution Tax Association: 13th May 1997. A Donation to Oxfam

£750 Donated To Oxfam By the Pollution Tax Association





13sep92: Pollution Tax Association: 13th September 1992. Donations to Oxfam, Save the Children and Greenpeace

£40 Donated To Oxfam
£40 Donated To Save the Children
£20 Donated To Greenpeace





10jun92: Pollution Tax Association: 10 June 1992. The First press release

On June 1 1992, a small group of York residents got together and created the Pollution Tax Association. Why?

  • To bring an awareness of the pollution caused by everyday economic activity within a market economy and to promote the control of pollution by the use of pollution taxes.
  • To encourage individuals to voluntarily pay substitute pollution taxes to organisations which can compensate the polluted and fight for the control of pollution.
How will this be achieved?
  • We believe a Carbon Tax is the tax which can make the best contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. It should be instituted by National and World authorities immediately. Realistically we know they won't.
  • While we are waiting ... its up to individuals. We can begin by paying something towards the pollution we cause both to heighten our awareness of our polluting ways, and to raise revenue to find solutions to the problem and compensate the polluted.
How do we handle the finances?
Funding of the PTA will be by subscription from members. A provisional membership fee of £5 per year has been set to pay for postage, office services etc. This will be paid into a special bank account where the money will be held separately from the tax revenues. Pollution tax revenues will be strictly separate from PTA subscriptions.
We ask members to pay their pollution taxes into a second special bank account from which the revenues will be distributed to recognised charities and campaigning organisations. The provisional distribution will be as follows :
40% to Oxfam 40% to Save the Children 20% to Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth
This distribution was based on an estimate of the relative importance of immediate relief, future planning and campaigning. The choice between Greenpeace and FOE is left to individual tax-payers to specify because of their different styles of campaigning.
How do we assess the rate of taxation?
Provisional rates for the Carbon tax are set according to the following formula :-
Petrol5p per gallon
Electricity Bills5% by value
Gas bills5% by value
Members are asked to estimate their tax payments based on the previous year. A typical quarterly estimate would be :
100 gallons at 5p per gallon (*)£5.00
£100 electric bill at 5%£5.00
£100 gas bill at 5%£5.00
Carbon Tax at provisional rates£15.00 per quarter
(*) This is the quarterly tax for a car with 30mpg consumption which travels 12,000 miles per year.
Yes, but is this really necesssary?
We cannot ignore the effects our lifestyle has on the global environment. People are dying on the margins of the Sahara, in Bangladesh, around the world, due to our excesses, due to global warming. Our excessive use of fossil fuels seems like throwing rubbish over the garden fence into our neighbours garden - except that the fence is many kilometres high and the rubbish kills. We don't think our proposed rates of tax are enough to compensate, but it is a start.

After the failure of governments at the Rio Summit, individual action is needed. The time to act is now. We can be contacted at this address.

Pollution Tax Association
35 Belle Vue Street
York
YO10 5AY

ENDS

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